#IMAPiece: The Craftivist Jigsaw Project for Save The Children

I stitched this on Tuesday night. 

People often ask me why I'm so positive and it's because this is my motto. 

Every single person on the planet has dreams, ambitions and hopes...and holding on to them is what makes life pleasurable. 

No matter how big or small, every second we put into thinking we shouldn't give up, is a second towards 'achieving.'

The Craftivist Jigsaw Project is also about not giving up...its aim is to support Save The Children's Race Against Hunger Campaign to put an end to the fact that millions of people, including children still go to bed hungry every night : (

The charity have invited 4 of the UK's leading Crafty ambassadors to front the campaign which is asking crafters all over the country to stitch a piece of a fabric jigsaw to show that they are 'A Piece' of the change that will make the world a better place.

Next year is the G8 Summit and Save The Children and The Campaign are asking world leaders to put eradicating hunger at the top of their list. Their method is to present thousands of stitched jigsaw pieces to show that UK Crafters care, and want to make a difference. 

Every single person can get involved. All you need to do is download a template of the jigsaw, stitch on your message and send it to The Craftivists where Sarah will collate them.

There are NO EXCUSES not to do this as the closing date is March so it's the perfect Christmas crafting activity.

Next month Sarah, Jamie, Lauren and Hilary as going to Indonesia with Save The Children to experience some of their projects and report back. This may sound bizarre, but like celebs often go on charity trips, bloggers too can have a positive impact on spreading awareness of campaigns and while they are away they'll be keeping blogs and diaries of their discoveries, inspiring us back home to get involved.

The launch of the campaign took place at a special Save The Children charity shop in Primrose Hill and was attended by a host of bloggers (including mysefl!)

We were all given a pack to help us create a piece of the jigsaw.

Inside were fabric, instructions, a needle and thread.

I stitched my message at the event but will glitter it up at home (obviously!) before giving it to The Craftivists.

I have never liked being told what to do and I dislike it when people insist on what you should and shouldn't do. But this campaign is different.

It's the first time the UK Craft Community have been given an actual voice - it takes us seriously, appreciates us as people whose opinions matters - not just mad hobbyists!

That's why I think it's an opportunity we should not miss out on.
You don't need to spend any money - you just need to stitch a jigsaw piece or two, either on your own or with friends.

The satisfaction afterwards is something you can really be proud of.

Find out more about how to get involved:

Deadly Knitshade (Lauren O'Farrell)'s blog

Hilary Pullen's blog

Mr X Stitch (Jamie Chalmers) blog:

Sarah Corbett (The Craftivists) (you can download the jigsaw template from this link.)

 

Stitch London Stitch Crawl 2012

It never rains at the Stitch London Stitch Crawl. Fact. This is because craft has the power to control the weather and with 10,000+ people invited to the event it's no wonder the heavens didn't dare open up. OK so all 10,000 didn't turn up. I purposely didn't count the masses as I knew the number would never seem as impressive. The day however, was.

After all, there were raffles prizes...

Yarn....

Knitters...(this family travelled from Buckinghamshire)

A fabulous host - Pro-Squid league member and knit wit extraordinaire (soon top be even more world famous when her woolley BT Art Phone Box lands in Trafalgar Square later this month) Deadly Knitshade...

And some special guest Crafty Avengers...(me!), the handsome Mr X-Stitch & the lovely Sarah Corbett from The Craftivist Collective.

Mr X-Stitch spread the stitch love to new recruits.

Sarah filled folk in about the work Craftivists do and their new campaign that launches on Sunday (17th June).

While I represented The Make Escape - a monthly craft night I co-run with the delightful Rosie Martin. In my workshop we made paper brooches.

No glue involved...just stitchery.

As the event itself was held to celebrate World Wide Knit in Public Day, there was of course plenty of knitting action. These ones caught my eye. The above stripey knits were all made from stunningly coloured yarns from Poundland. A pound well spent!

This was the final sleeve of a jumper that with this immense detail, has taken a year so far in the making.

My favourite spot was this incredible part crocheted, part knitted cardigan, beautifully made...

AND is the same colours as The Make Escape flier!

The knitting action lasted from midday to 6pm. All generations took part...

And no doubt this little lovely one will soon be the youngest knitter in the world if their aunt Lauren has anything to do with it!

This girl knitted a sock whilst wearing a fine cherry necklace and sporting leopard print nails.

One 1/2 of this couple knitted while the other caught up on the weekend papers.

I was also impressed by these wonderful socks. 

Not that you needed them! The sudden afternoon heatwave resulted in heighten picnic activity. If you've ever wondered what crafters eat whilst being creative alfresco, here's a selection of the treats I discovered...

 Home-baked cookies & yummy chocolate rolls

Dried fruit

Spanish omelette - I can verify this was the tastiest egg I've ever eaten. Not sure who made it, but she has talents!

 Soya mince & brown rice (my own creation -leftovers from two nights before!)

It being knitting in public day, I couldn't help but be drawn to the bags - the bags people use to carry their knitting in to allow them to knit in public. Like these two fab cake holdalls.

This creation is too amazing for words, knitted and held together by knitting needles...genius!

These two were simply print-tastic. 

 What I like about Stitch London's philosophy is that all crafts are welcome, not just knitting - also seen on the day was crochet (wish I'd photographed this before and after, watching the square grow was mesmerising.)

Also spotted - quiltmaking and embroidery.

 Highlights of the day were the three raffles - over £300 was raised for Doctors Without Borders of which I contributed to...the evidence being the fact I won a prize!

A rather tasty book! Yay!

Another happy winner! (Very pleased to find out this is the prize this lady had her fingers crossed for!)

And here are some of the brooches made at my workshop.

I can say without a doubt it was the lovliest Saturday afternoon I've had in a very long time. 

Crafting alfresco is just so 'meant to be'. If you've not tried it, make sure you add it to your goal before the summers out!

Also if you get a chance this summer, to get to the Southbank there are lots of lovely things to admire.

 Like this most beautiful fantasy tree.

The chance to watch cardboard TV.

Star in a photography exhibition.

And become a citizen of Antartica.

You can even stamp the passport yourself!

See - definately the best Saturday day I've had in ages. And best of all, it was totally free!

To find out about future Stitch London events visit their website & join their mailing list.

The Festivals of The World exhibition continues at The Southbank until September (and is a must visit!)

Stitch & Craft London 2012 : Highlights

There is a definite theme running through this years Stitch & Crafts Show. From London 2012 to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee  - it's all very British.

There are regal cross stitch cushions (this one was designed by Emma Bridgewater for CrossStitcher magazine)...

Capital themed tapestry...

Londonium inspired printed cotton & ...

...Jubilee themes from Fabrics Galore and

Patriotic ribbon from Crafty Ribbons.

I even tried my hand at some Jubilee Cross Stitch - well two royal guards anyway!

Speaking of Cross Stitch, Mr X Stitch has his own gallery space at the show. As well as his own stitch finery, there's another gentleman of stitchery exhibiting...

Lord Libidan who here is demonstrating one of his XStitched moveable Transformers and standing beside the most magnificent XStitch I've ever seen - 3D - which you wear with glasses to appreciate. Genius!

On the Olympics front Quilts 4 London was set up three years ago - a campaign to make 15,000 hand-stitched pennants (individual flags). They have been donated by stitchers from all over the world and will be placed inside the goody bags so EVERY single competitor will get one. Before that, some of them are on display - infact this is the only place you'll get to see them as the deadline to fill Paralympic goodie bags is only two weeks away. The good news is they have met their targets and they'll be a few spares for Olympic organisers too.

The flags were exhibited along with Olympic quilts .......so many of them I didn't know where to look! There really is some amazing handiwork to appreciate (but far too much to photograph.) Luckily a book is available featuring all the designs which you can buy at the show.

A big crowd puller was the miniature knitted village exhibit. You can still contribute to it, by knitting village themed goodies. The entire village (possibly a town by then) will be on display at the Knitting & Stitching show in October.

 

My favourite buy of the day was a hand-carved Indian Block for printing, £6 from Colouricious. They had so many gorgeous Indian themed designs, I wish I could afford to buy more so I could have printed my own saris!

Finally here is Linzi Upton with the patchwork yurt she made, used as the HQ for the Mollie Makes magazine team.

There are lots and lots of stalls throughout the show where you can stock up on supplies and an excellent choice of workshops where you can learn new skills. All in all; a good day trip for a craft fan. I think the only downside is the venue. It's not Olympia's fault, they are currently celebrating 125 years, it's just that so many of these exhibition halls are dark and dingy with no natural light. I wish someone would build a nice exhibition centre that didn't feel so clinical where the true colour and creativity of a craft show could be represented. Hopefully one day I will be reporting from such an event on this very blog, fingers and stitching crossed!

The show continues until Sunday 18th March. Tickets are £12 on the door for adults. If you're thinking of going down, I hope these highlights were useful - enjoy the event and happy shopping : )